Louis XVI 22K Gold Diamond Encrusted Snuff Box Decorated by Charles-Jacques de Mailly (1740-1817)

Our client's important and rare, 22K gold snuff box encrusted with 250 diamonds featuring grisaille work attributed to Charles-Jacques de Mailly (1740-1817).  8.7 x 5.7 x 4.1 cm, 3.4 x 2.25 x 1.6 in.  Case made of 22K gold.  It has an illegible master's mark, charge mark of the fermier, Jean-Jacques Prevost (1762-1768) in the form of laurel, Parisien guarantee mark for 22K gold for this same period and a later Paris gold mark for the period 1838-1846.

This rectangular box with beveled corners is painted on all sides with polychrome bouquets of blooming flowers on green ground, with oval cartouches with fine miniature en grisaille paintings in the manner of François Boucher (1703-1770). The lid depicts "L'Amour sacrifiant à l'Amitié" (An Offering to Love), a scene from "Suite d'estampes", from the suite of prints engraved by Madame la Marquise de Pompadour after the engravings by Jacques Guay, engraver of King. Putti playing instruments and forging love arrows decorate the sides. Flanges depict putti in allegories of the four seasons. The base with a scene at the altar of love. Finely crafted from two-color gold with volutes, garlands and rocailles, with fluted pilasters on the beveled corners. Exquisite diamonds are arranged in wavy gold bands across the lid.

Charles-Jacques de Mailly exhibited in Paris as early as 1771 and is known to have worked in Saint Petersburg. In 1793 he exhibited at the Paris Salon. Famous for his paintings of flowers and fruit, and for his paintings in the graisaille style, there are only a very small number of boxes attributed to the artist.

An oval shaped box by Louis-Philippe Demay with miniatures by Charles-Jacques de Mailly, signed D Mailly f and dated Paris 1766/1767, resides in the collection of the Louvre (OA 6769), and is shown in illustration 435 in A. K. Snowman's book, Eighteenth Century Gold Boxes of Europe, first published in 1966 by Faber & Faber, and reissued by Woodbridge in 1990.  The cover of this box features the same grissaile cartouche as ours, depicting An Offering to Love.  And, a rectangular box with beveled corners, like ours, with enamel and grisaille work attributed to Charles-Jacques de Mailly is shown in illustration 402.

Its condition is very good. There are hairlines, including ones visible through the grisaille paintings on the right side and front right side, dust/dirt in crevices, and light overall wear.